Hi - I'm a long way from being a seasoned fisherman. I have and old beachcaster rod and reel that I get wet every now and again but never had much success.

I want to give sea fishing a proper shot this summer (and winter) and can hit the beaches around Littlehampton, Hayling Island and Selsey the odd evening here and there. I've also offered to take a few friends fishing towards the end of June, all of whom have never been sea fishing before nor have any sea fishing tackle. Hope is that we can catch something for the plate if possible!

So wanted to ask what suggestions might be for tackle and tactics around the area? If the guys need to buy rod, reels etc., what sort of thing might you recommend I point them towards?

Personally, I think it's more enjoyable to go with lure fishing / feathering as it's a bit more involved than cast-and-wait bait fishing. So is a spinning rod / reel or bass road the most sensible start? I would imagine having something that is small and light to travel with so can use when camping in Devon or Cornwall would be more favourable if it's sensible for the South Coast too.

Getting live bait is also hard living inland, but if frozen or synthetic bait will have more success than lures, happy to gear up accordingly.

So any thoughts on the above and any tips on best places to fish would be much appreciated.

Hello and welcome bezza
I have been going sea fishing most of my life but had a break in recent years to follow my other passion of metal detecting, some actually call it " Dirt Fishing "

Having been out of the game for so long I really did need to get some idea`s and experience from here and at my local fishing tackle shop Christchurch Angling centre.

For countless years I have been using the large beach casting gear as I enjoyed long range casting and generally there are a fair more species to be had.
Coming back into the sport just like you like the idea of keeping things simple along the lines of lure fishing is something I am also about to indulge in

Its my 50th Birthday in a couple of weeks So I have decided to push the boat out and purchase a really nice 4 piece spinning rod by Shimano, very expensive at just over £100 paired with a Pen reel as to be expected really lovely quality pieces of kit, the rod breaks down and is then placed in a material case and then into a hard tube, just the job really as they can be very delicate and need protecting.

Having something that is light weight is obviously going to be a bonus especially if you are going to be on the move, I got the guys at the shop to load my reel with braid, its so very strong at 28lb breaking strain but at the same time almost the thickness of a hair which will certainly make casting distance with lures that little bit easier

I got myself a couple of Dexter wedge lures which have always worked well for me over the past and some jelly black Minnows, never used these before but they do like they should do a great job! very realistic and nicely weighted.

Having looked at the various rods and reels on offer there were many combinations which would of done the job nicely and some rod and reel deals under £50.
The best place to go is your local tackle shop to have a really good look around and see what you personally like, I went with some idea`s in mind but having entered the tackle shop they completely changed.
Please keep us updated how you get along
I have just purchased the NEW GoPro Hero 5 video camera to take along with me so stay tuned
Cheers
mrix

I forgot to mention that I had bought an upgraded reel - penn surf master 850 - which is loaded with 15lb mono.

For my use, I'd like to purchase a spinning rod for travelling along with a small reel with braid and a 1-3oz or 2-4oz bass road for "in between" times. A trip to the local tackle shop is definitely in order but, as you say, would like to have an idea in mind. My budget isn't overly constrained and can set aside £150-200 for the two rods, a reel and braid.

Any ideas how good lure fishing is around West Sussex?

Would appreciate your views on what I should recommend to friends though- they won't want to spent much more than £50-60 all-in, so very much the budget end. Question is whether to suggest Spinning, bass or beachcaster?

Would appreciate your views on what I should recommend to friends though- they won't want to spent much more than £50-60 all-in, so very much the budget end. Question is whether to suggest Spinning, bass or beachcaster?

Hello, that`s a tricky one for me to answer as I am from the South Coast, I think its another case of getting that info from your local tackle shop in your area, these guys are really on the ball with upto date tackle and whats being captured around the area, regarding rods and types of fishing, it maybe a case of purchasing something that can be used as an all-round rod to give these beginners a chance to experience various types of fishing, eccles a member here who I beleive comes from around the Hayling Island area mentioned on getting an uptide rod which was an option I was considering as I could of used that for various fishing situations. I suppose if your friend are only budgeted to around £50 the options will be obviously limited.
I think I was eventually swayed by the present rod I have which is the 4 piece Shimano EXAGE BX S.T.C, pretty much breaks down to a package only 2ft long so certainly ideal for transport, lovely piece of quality kit
Best of luck
mrix

Although a Hayling Islander and now well qualified by experience, I was like you a while back bezza. I retired early, came to live on the island around 12 years ago and caught very little in the first couple of years although I knew that others were quite successful. Fortunately, I met up with a guy around that time who knew what he was doing and my learning curve rocketed up. Here's a few things I have learned:- 1. Have a look here for a start - http://www.mikeladle.com/
2. Locations matter, there are three or four specific spots on Hayling which will produce more fish than the rest of the beach and that applies to a lot of places. If you are in West Sussex, you should try East Preston, I have often heard good reports from there.
3. Tides matter, the old rule of fishing one hour up and two hours down from high water works a lot of the time and never go fishing at low water unless you know the locality well.
4. Although ragworm is a good bait, it is also expensive. These days I catch most using lugworm which I dig myself (most harbours have them), and mackerel strip.
5. When you feel confident and have the necessary lamps, etc., try a night session. I have had some of my best catches by starting at dusk and fishing up to midnight.

The water is a bit deep by the Lifeboat Station for lure fishing, if I do lures, I go to the west end end of the island and fish from just before LW for a couple of hours - mackerel and bass in the summer. I have seen guys regularly doing lure fishing form the Wittering shore or rather East Head which is the National Trust area to the west of West Wittering which doesn't surprise me as the water is quite shallow there. I get my stuff from Hazel these days, see here:-http://www.hookersbaits.com/ but can't tell you when she is open. Give a her a call and ask; she may decide to wait for you if she knows you are coming.

Is the mackerel and bass catching off the south coast at the moment? Been trying to check catch reports online but if the internet is to be believed, people appear to have up fishing at some point in 2014.

Conditions not good at present. Ideally you need a relatively flat sea and bags of sunshine for lure fishing or in other words clear water and bright light so the fish can spot your lure from a distance - maybe next week? Right at the moment I would only do bait fishing after dark and seeing as the kite surfing lot have arrived for their annual festival and packed out all the car parks where I want to go, I am giving it a miss.

Gear wise, I'll push my mates towards getting 1-3oz rods as that probably gives them the best of both worlds, especially if they can get something that breaks down into sections of less than 4ft. Add in a fixed spool reel with 15lb mono, some hooks, swivels, 2oz leads, mackerel feathers and a slightly heavier shallow diver and I reckon they'll be set for most occasions.

And then I'll probably treat myself to a nice light rod and spinning reel with braid to complement the beachcaster.

Hopefully when I do head down in a couple of weeks, I'll be able to try a mix of bait and lure fishing. Fingers crossed the hookers can take an order over the phone and leave in a safe place.

Glad to be of help, never forget that sea angling is a thinking man's game. Loads of folk come to Hayling stick a bit of bait on a hook chuck it out (not usually far enough) and expect fish to come, does not work! Saw an old bloke on the beach a couple of years ago with a large piece of squid on a size 6 hook which he cast out about 30 yds. Chat: So what are you expecting mate? Cod, someone told me you can get cod here. Me: Not in broad daylight in high summer mate. - Oh so that's why I never caught one in ten years then; did you ever catch one? Me:- Yes, middle of November about 9 o'clock at night about 70 yds out. He had not done his "homework" in ten years so he never caught anything. Another example: I was told that you can't catch sole on Hayling so I thought about it, decided where they could be, found out the best time of year, what bait, rig and hook size to use and of course I have had quite a few over the years......